The Stars Beyond

Chapter 36: Something Went Wrong

The honking of cars early in the morning, the crowded buses, hurried office workers, and students running with their backpacks... These are the signs as a new day of tense and busy life officially began.

Wang Xuan found time for a quick breakfast at a small roadside restaurant. A pancake, a cup of sweet soy milk, and a bowl of salty tofu pudding was what he chose to start his day with. On that day, he put an end to the age-old argument between the northern and the southern region of the country about whether their breakfast should be sweet or salty.

"Am I early?" he wondered, realizing he was the first one to arrive at the office. About ten minutes later, the youthful and fashion-conscious Liu Xue arrived. The rest of their colleagues trickled in half an hour later..

With little to do in the morning, Wang Xuan sent and received some emails and made quick work of two drawings. Then, he discreetly resumed his research on Taoist texts. At the same time, he was also keeping an eye on his older colleague Chen Yongjie, who seemed to be always on the phone, inviting people to go fishing.

Something's definitely off. Wang Xuan thought, his heart racing.

Throughout the morning, his older colleague made several phone calls, mentioning things like "going fishing," "last night's storm," and "today's fine weather." To Wang Xuan, it all sounded like coded language. He did not even want to think about the "fishing" part. Having experienced things in the Greater Khingan Range firsthand, he was certain that the "last night's storm" was a reference to the elimination of the Ashen Blood organization. As for the mention of "today's fine weather," it likely meant that various factions were now keeping a low profile.

It was at that moment that Wang Xuan began to find everyone suspicious!

For instance, the guy wearing black-framed glasses, who had been on the phone talking about "killing all night long," was now looking sleepy. The two older women who loved playing Mahjong were whispering about the "turn of fortune," and how luck doesn't last forever. They planned to have a rematch the next time one of them dealt the tiles.

And then there was the poetic colleague, who was a bit sentimental and liked to write poems when he was free. Early in the morning, he recited a new one: "I take the sky as my stage and hang a string of fireworks. With a loud bang, they explode so splendidly, astonishing the mortal world."

Wang Xuan had the nagging feeling that something was very off.

Wang Xuan found his heart pumping. His mind was filled with unsettling thoughts. Who are these people? Were they all part of some sort of operation last night? Are they the crew of a starship that shot down a bunch of enemies last night?

Finally, his eyes landed on Liu Xue, the young woman next to him who was applying lipstick while looking into a small mirror. Even she seemed off. She remarked that the lipstick wasn't the right shade; she preferred a melancholy red, a hue imbued with a sad and mournful air. She believed that only such a color could achieve a sort of ethereal beauty. Listening to the veiled language used by everyone around him, Wang Xuan found himself getting a headache. He forced himself to sit still and focus on his Taoist texts, despite his growing unease.

Finally, lunchtime mercifully arrived. His colleagues, ever so cheerful, invited Wang Xuan—the newcomer—to try out a newly-opened restaurant outside their design institute. Wang Xuan ate absentmindedly, his thoughts were elsewhere. He wanted to ask them about their strange comments but he was afraid of being too direct.

After lunch, the older colleague, ever the steady one, approached Wang Xuan privately. Yet his first words nearly made Wang Xuan turn and walk away: he asked if Wang Xuan wanted to go fishing. Given his dangerous experience in the Greater Khingan Range, where he'd almost been targeted by an Ashen Blood space warship, Wang Xuan had no desire to tread in muddy waters any further.

"You're still young. You still have the capacity for passion," the older colleague said. "You should cherish that."

"Are you trying to use me as bait again?" Wang Xuan asked, deadpan.

"What are you talking about? I'm just inviting you to go fishing at an abandoned machinery factory behind our design institute. There's a lake there, the size is just nice. It is surrounded by reeds and full of wild fish. Boy, I can imagine how fat and juicy they are."

Wang Xuan eyed him suspiciously. Is he indirectly admitting that he is a senior member of the Adventurer’s Guild?

"It's me," the older colleague admitted, as if reading his mind. "Let's go. We've just had lunch, so we can talk while we walk. Let's fish for a bit." His car, an old and faded sedan, had its trunk filled with all sorts of fishing gear.

As they headed out, Wang Xuan could not bite back the question, "Just what sort of people are our office colleagues?"

Chen Yongjie, the older colleague, first appeared to be lost in thought before bursting into laughter. "What are you thinking? You think our office, which is as good as a retirement home, is filled with extraordinary people? Nah, they're just ordinary men and women who enjoy playing games, Mahjong, reciting sentimental poetry, dressing up, and watching horror movies. The only ones who are abnormal here are you and me."

Wang Xuan, who was speechless for a long while, finally retorted, "You're the one who's abnormal, not me!"

Chen Yongjie looked at him with surprise and said, "Normal, you say? I heard you disfigured a woman with a slap and killed five people over the span of a few days."

"That's baseless slander! I've never killed anyone!" Wang Xuan hurriedly corrected, emphasizing that he was law-abiding and had only injured five people in self-defense.

"Semantics," his older colleague nodded.

Not wanting to explain further, Wang Xuan was more interested in learning about Chen Yongjie's identity and why he worked in such an inconspicuous place. As they arrived at the lake within the abandoned machinery factory, Chen Yongjie set up his fishing rod and said, "I'm Qing Mu's master. I move between the new and old worlds. Regardless of where I am, I need a leisurely job as a cover. Don't you like it here too?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Xuan understood instantly. Qing Mu had been planning and preparing all along. As soon as Wang Xuan graduated, he was steered toward his master.

Even if Wang Xuan had initially chosen not to join the Adventurer's Guild, having such a senior colleague nearby meant he'd likely be roped in sooner or later.

"You guys planned this, didn't you?" Wang Xuan sighed. What more could he say? His senior colleague had already revealed his true identity in an act of complete sincerity.

"Don't worry about it. Last time, our operation was meticulously calculated and planned. The Ashen Blood organization's spaceships never stood a chance against you; they'd be shot down the moment they showed themselves. Anyway, enough of that. I heard you're practicing the Golden Body Technique. Here's a gift for you."

His senior colleague handed over a book that looked like it had seen its share of years, imbued with an aura of aged wisdom. After flipping it open and reading carefully, Wang Xuan looked up with a sense of astonishment. The book was filled with information on various plants, minerals, and strange creatures.

"Is this legit?" he asked, feeling as though he'd just opened a gateway to a new world.

For instance, the book mentioned Moonlight Silver, an incredibly rare and unique mineral. Cracking open the mineral would cause a silver liquid to flow out, which needed to be consumed immediately before it evaporates and vanishes as though it were the ethereal light of the moon. For an average person, consuming some of this would rejuvenate their body. For those practicing the Golden Body Technique, it would be especially potent as a powerful supplement to accelerate the advancement of their physical constitution.

Wang Xuan was growing increasingly skeptical as he leafed through the pages. The book mentioned something about a 'Golden Mushroom,' a bizarre plant that could be ground into a powder and brewed into a broth. The text claimed it could bolster bone density and enhance the vitality of one's marrow, leading to an overall improvement in constitution.

"Where on earth do these things even exist?" Wang Xuan thought, shaking his head in disbelief.

He'd never heard of such extraordinary ingredients, and he had his doubts that even the most comprehensive encyclopedias would list them. And it didn't stop there. Another entry spoke of a rare mountain snail, an obscure creature that, when captured, dried, and ground to powder, could apparently extend one's life by a staggering five years when ingested consistently for half a month.

"The more I read, the less I believe," Wang Xuan thought, skeptical to the core. He'd flipped through classic works like 'Ben Cao Gang Mu' in his leisure time but had never encountered anything as peculiar as these.

Chen Yongjie, his elder colleague, chimed in, catching the disbelief on Wang Xuan's face. "Don't be so quick to dismiss these. All these items have been documented in the archives of Taoist and Buddhist sanctuaries. This book is merely a compilation of those, combined with other strange phenomena documented in bamboo slips from the Early Qin era."

Wang Xuan paused, asking, "But who has seen these things? They must have disappeared for years now."

"Just because you can't find them on the Old Earth doesn't mean they don't exist deep in space," his older colleague smiled, and Wang Xuan keenly noted that the man mentioned 'deep space’ instead of 'New World,' sensing the nuance in the words. With a swift pull of his fishing rod, the older colleague sighed in disappointment; the fish got away.

He continued, "In the past decade or so, some of these rare items have indeed been acquired, albeit in small quantities. They've caused quite a stir. Ah, someone even found Earth Immortal Grass, although, unfortunately, it couldn't be harvested."

Wang Xuan quickly leafed through the pages to find the entry on Earth Immortal Grass. Its description was enchanting: consuming a single plant could extend one's life by two hundred years.

"That's why people in the New World are going mad. To extend life by two hundred years is like being reborn twice for ordinary people. As for the old moguls, the heads of life science institutes, they're practically frantic and are all taking action."

Wang Xuan's emotions surged, but he quickly grew alert again. He could not shake the feeling that the old man was "fishing" for something, perhaps setting him up for another one of his schemes.

"Sounds like things are pretty lively over in the New World. You give me this ancient book, whet my appetite with all these tales. What do you want from me? Tell me!" Wang Xuan demanded.

"Ah, youngsters these days are so suspicious. Not like our generation—we were all so naive and pure-hearted. You're overthinking it," the old colleague sighed. Then, with a sudden jerk of his fishing rod, he finally pulled up... a soft-shelled turtle.

"Stop messing around, I'm fishing here!" The old man promptly tossed the turtle back into the water. According to him, the creature had clearly just been released not too long ago, half-dead and not worth keeping as nourishment.

"Opportunities to go to the New World are rare. You'll have to earn your place, young man," the old colleague offered as he prepared to leave.

However, ever since the conversation took that turn, Wang Xuan found himself on guard around his former colleague. He felt a tingling unease; even if he did decide to go to the New World, it would probably be wise to avoid involving the old man.

That evening, Wang Xuan returned home, practicing his old techniques and contemplating the Ascension Stone he had been studying. His thoughts also lingered on the exotic plants and rare minerals mentioned in the ancient book he'd received.

"Spending my days diving into the Daoist scriptures and my nights practicing the old arts—this life isn't bad at all. I'll think about going to the New World later. For now, let's focus on finding the Ascension Stone," he mused to himself.

Not far from the city was an ancient temple that had stood for a millennium. Wang Xuan planned to visit it soon. Tomorrow being a Saturday, he intended to visit his parents first thing in the morning. It wasn't a far trip; he usually returned home every two weeks or so.

"There's a mountain near my home, steeped in legends. I think there's a story about a fairy or a celestial maiden," Wang Xuan pondered. While he couldn't visit the ancient temple just yet, he could certainly take a detour through the mountain when he visited home.

But as the old adage goes, "Man proposes, God disposes." That night, Wang Xuan was troubled by a nightmarish dream. In it, a woman—clad in white, wearing red shoes, her long hair flowing freely—approached him. Her beautiful face was marred by two lines of blood. She got so close that her face almost touched his, jolting him awake with a start.

Since he began practicing the old arts, Wang Xuan had enjoyed uninterrupted sleep, free from nightmares. But tonight was strangely different. Regulating his breath, he managed to calm his nerves and soon drifted back to sleep. But within an hour, he was jolted awake once again, feeling as though a chill wind brushed against his face. The same woman, tears of blood staining her cheeks, haunted his dream once more.

Realizing something was terribly wrong, Wang Xuan was gripped by an unsettling sense of impending doom. Though he had never been one to believe in such things, the reality remained that every time he fell asleep, he would dream of that woman.

"It looks like I won't be going home tomorrow," he thought. Uncertain of what was happening to him, Wang Xuan hesitated to head home, sensing that he'd somehow become tainted by something ominous.

That night, the cycle of falling asleep and waking in terror repeated itself, over and over again, until the dawn finally broke. He immediately contacted his old colleague, Chen Yongjie, feeling that even Qing Mu couldn't help him with this one.

"Really? Something like that happened?" The old colleague, Chen Yongjie, took Wang Xuan's claim seriously. As an experienced adventurer, he'd encountered inexplicable phenomena that he himself couldn't quite explain to this day.

"Don't worry. Later, I'll have someone deliver a talisman to you. It was personally crafted by an old Taoist who has lived for more than a hundred years. It should be quite effective," the older man assured.

True to his word, the talisman was delivered that afternoon. However, as night fell, the eerie and unsettling phenomenon occurred again. To make matters worse, the Taoist talisman that was supposed to protect him spontaneously combusted, nearly setting his bedding and hair on fire. Wang Xuan was left utterly dumbfounded.

The second half of the night was even more horrifying. Just when he'd finally managed to fall asleep, he was abruptly woken by a bone-chilling coldness. He felt something in his arms—something covered in fur and staring at him with a pair of terrifying eyes!